OSCE continues to note military equipment, armed men in Luhansk

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) continues to note the presence of military-type vehicles and unidentified armed men – many of them with white arm-bands and covered faces – in the centre of Luhansk city. This was reported by the OSCE press service.

“The SMM observed overall calm situation in the city. While conducting a patrol, however, the SMM was denied access by unidentified armed men to the intersection of Lermontova and Radianska streets,” the message also says.

It is reported that the OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor arrived in Luhansk to join his colleagues in monitoring the situation.

Given the unstable situation in Luhansk, President Petro Poroshenko called the urgent session of the National Security and Defence Council. ‘The Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready for any scenario and ready to protect peaceful civilians – in the view of the growing number of Russian troops and the recent activity of pro-Kremlin mercenaries,’ he said.

However, it appeared to be a serious internal face-off: local users of social networks reported presence of well-armed men without insignia in the downtown Luhansk; ‘the little green men’ they name them – after the Russian troops, which annexed Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. The ‘guests’ arrived and occupied the city centre so fast many locals did not even understand what was going on. Some even assumed these could be the disguised ‘Ukrainian troops’.